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Time commitment: 5min - 30min
Encourage players to spend some time exploring clubs or teams on campus, and consider attending a meeting or reaching out to someone in that club to get to know what that club is all about. Have them report back on what they discovered.
Dedicate time in your team meetings for players to share something about their own community or culture. Consider asking people to share a picture or bring a personal artifact: Where is your hometown or community? What is something you appreciate about it? What do you want others to know?
During a team meeting or within the team's group chat, ask players to share a civic action they took to help someone out in a productive and communal way. Then ask them to “tag” someone else on the team to do something similar. This doesn’t have to be a big action: offering to walk someone home, joining someone who is alone for lunch, or checking on a neighbor counts!
Ask if your team can do an Instagram takeover for your Athletic Department. On a portable whiteboard or piece of paper, write the prompt, “It is our civic duty as student athletes to vote because..” Have players fill in the blank, then take a picture and post it on your team, athletic department, or personal Instagram account tagging @theteamdotorg Consider turning into a cross-team competition!
Citizening isn't just about voting or becoming politically active, it's about how you show up every day for yourself, your teammates, and others. Citizening shows up in the micro-moments, not just the big events. Are you flexing civic character that shows care and concern for others, are you building civic culture by modeling positive contribution? Take some time with your team to discuss: How are we "citizening"?
Showing care and appreciation is one of the best ways to strengthen your community. Get a pack of thank you notes. Write one hand-written note thanking someone for all they do for you. This could be someone you care about or someone you don’t really know (e.g., faculty or dining hall, administrative, or janitorial staff). Consider making it a challenge to turn this into a habit.
Time commitment: 30min - 2hours
As a team, connect with your local children’s hospital, community center, or nursing/assisted living home. If visiting isn’t an option because of COVID, see if you could arrange a Zoom call to chat with hospitalized youth or play bingo with the residents. Put a smile on their face!
Invite a faculty member to a team lunch on November 8th and ask them to present no more than 10-15 minutes on a topic related to voting or civic engagement (e.g., voting rights, gerrymandering, Jim Crow laws, or the electoral college).
As a team, go to a family-owned restaurant in your area that has been around for a long time. Ask the owner or manager to share how they have seen the community change and how their business has adjusted over the years.
Time commitment: 2+ hours
Have a team meal. Before eating, go around the room and ask every person to say why they think it is important that we exercise our right to vote. Encourage people to share personal stories and memories of voting or civic engagement. Consider using Vote with Love’s “Reflect on your Personal Story” as a prompt.
Host a team BBQ and invite public officials, thanking them for their service. Have a player introduce them and invite the guest to say a few words about what they do. You could invite a specific group like first responders, the school board, city planners, or a mix of people. Consider inviting other teams to join you!
Challenge your players to discover other interests outside of their sport. Athletes hear all the time that one day “the ball will stop bouncing,” but often don’t think about what this looks like. Work with your players to determine what former player, current booster, or local person they would like to learn about. You can start the conversation early by asking them to write down to write down 2-3 possible interests and 1-3 steps they could take to empower themselves to pursue it. Then have that person (or a bunch of them!) come speak to the team at a meal and engage in conversation.
Visit a school on #AllVoteNoPlay day. It could be one you already have a relationship with or a new school. Help your athletes work with the school administrators and teachers to figure out the best way to leverage their civic influence and impact on the students.